속초... Sokcho (Part 2)

We were only in 속초 for two days, but it seems like it was longer with everything that we did!

The first night, we visited Sorak Waterpia -- a spa/water park/hot spring/sauna. My favorite part was the outdoor hot springs. Since we went at night, the air was slightly cool, so it felt amaaazing to step into those hot springs.

At the hot springs, we finally tried out the infamous "Doctor Fish." (Mica, we finally did it!) For those who are unaware, Doctor Fish are small fish that feed on dead skin. So basically, when you get into one of the tanks, you get an exfoliation treatment.

::image via Photo Collection::

I tried to prepare myself, but was nowhere near ready for how much these little guys would tickle my feet. It was torture and at the beginning, despite how embarrassed I was, I couldn't stop jerking my feet and laughing out loud. But eventually I got myself used to it and was able to let them go to work.

Speaking of reactions to nature's creatures... SangKwun had his own little brush with danger this trip. Mark and I saw SangKwun sitting as still as a statue on a picnic bench. We started laughing and wondered what he was doing. But upon a closer look, we saw that he was surrounded by bees.

Apparently, the picnic bench he decided to sit at had this directly below the place he sat.

Luckily his calm reaction allowed him to escape without getting stung. I'm not sure I would've been able to handle it so well, pretty sure I would've run around panicking and screaming and gotten stung approximately 283 times. Gives me the shivers just thinking about it.

After SangKwun's brush with death, we went to 설악산 -- Seoraksan. There were some sculptures and a little park at the base of the mountain, so we took a short little nature walk.

After the walk, we took the lazy route and rode a cable car up to the top of this mountain. The views were spectacular!

Then, there was a pathway with a lot of stairs to reach a higher point on the mountain. Once we got there, this part brought out the fear of heights in both Mark and me!

Behind Mark, there is a cliff that drops directly down. Neither of us were brave enough to get close to the edge... though Birth Father seemed to have no problem. He walked right over to the edge and sort of leaned over to look down. Gak.

If you wanted, you could continue climbing to the summit.

Since we were both wearing flip flops and it was HOT, we decided to skip that.

After 설악산 we packed ourselves back in the car for the long haul back to Seoul. I'm really glad this time around we've gotten to explore more places in Korea. Where should we go for our next adventure???